Thankful Outdoors: The Unspoken Bond

Thankful Outdoors: November 1-7

We enter the month of Thanksgiving; it has been an interesting year, to say the least. Many challenges have been heard and seen across the world. It’s often this time of year I find my thoughts reflecting on things of the past.

It’s this time of year that I find myself in a tree for hours or just walking in the woods for a full day. The month of November for me has always been one filled with a lot of family time. We all take off work to hunt the rut and the many days spent together during the nine-day rifle season.

It’s because of these times that I believe I spend a lot of this month counting my blessings and appreciating the memories made throughout the year. Sometimes, I wonder what my life would be like if I didn’t fill it with the outdoors. I suppose I would have found some other type of passion for filling those blocks of time with; I do chuckle, though, and can’t think of living life any other way.

I don’t have any recent stories to share this week; the boys and I spent the weekend getting things ready for our rifle hunt this year. It will be the first year that the boys will experience a hunt from the outfitter’s tent.

I usually share a recap with you about what has been happening in the outdoors from my perspective. This week though, I want to take this time to share with you a story I wrote to my Dad about 11 years ago. It’s one that I often think about, and there are certain times of the year that I think about this story.

It’s on November 11^th that I exceptionally think about him. I’m proud to say that my Dad is a Vietnam Veteran. I thank him and every single person that has served and given their lives for our freedoms. I hope, on this day, every single American has taken a moment to stop and reflect on what our freedoms mean. Thank a Veteran not only on this special day but any chance you get. With that thought, I want to share with you the story I gifted to my Dad several years ago that I called “The Unspoken Bond.”

The Unspoken Bond

I have spent 23 years hunting with my Dad. We have shared all kinds of hunts from rabbit, turkey, deer, and even a couple of elk trips in the mountains. Some trips allowed us to bring game home, and others didn’t. No matter if we brought game home or not, each outing was always successful because it allowed me to bring back memories.

These memories are more important than any game that can be brought home because they will never run out. These memories will remain with me forever, unlike the last package of venison that I pull out of my freezer. I find that as each year passes by, the outings that I share with my Dad become more and more special to me. I realize that, at some point, we will not always have the ability to share these outings.

I don’t think that my Dad realizes how he has been such a great teacher to my three brothers and myself. He passed his love and passion for the great outdoors down to all of us. Each of us took this love and passion and have different levels of commitment to the outdoors. The one thing that I can see, though, is that this passion will never be taken out of us. Each of us has had events in our lives that allow this love of the outdoors to become a small flicker, and then all of a sudden, something will change, and it turns into a roaring fire.

Spending time in the outdoors is such an excellent medicine in the world. In my life, it has always been there to fill me with any voids that I may have. It has also been there to give me some of the most joyous moments of my life. The artwork of the outdoors is breathtaking and ever-changing. I have my Dad to thank for opening up this incredible world to me. We have never shared these thoughts verbally with each other, but when we are together, it is the unspoken actions that let me know that we have this bond.

Thanks, Dad, it has been one of the greatest gifts you could ever give, and I hope to pass this same unspoken bond onto my boys.

In closing, I hope you find a way to get into the outdoors, create your adventure and memories, but most importantly, find a way to “Celebrate the Experience.” Go check out www.thankfuloutdoors.com for more content and share your “Celebrate the Experience” moment with us!

We welcome your stories! Contact us at [email protected]!